The Fall of the Aftons

062: William Afton

William quickly put his robe on and made his way to his office, then picked up the phone. "Henry?" he asked, sort of worried. "What's going on? Did something happen?"

The sound of a stifled sob came from the other end of the line. "Will, I need to talk to you. Now, if possible."

"Did something happen between you and Doc again?" he asked, frowning. Poor Henry just couldn't catch a break when it came to him and his wife.

"Yes. Yes, but this is different than before. So much different, I promise. I need to talk to you!"

"Okay, okay. Come over here and we can talk about it."

"T-Thank you so much, Will," Henry replied gratefully. "I'll see you soon." And the call ended.

William went back to his room and got dressed as fast as he could. When he was ready, he went downstairs to the living room and sat on the couch, waiting for Henry.

Henry arrived about ten minutes later, completely emotionally wrecked. His hair was a poofy mess and disheveled, his glasses weren't on his face properly, his eyes were red, and tears were streaming down his face. His wrecked state made William want to pull him into a tight hug, wipe the tears from his eyes, and assure him that everything would be all right.

"W-Where's Mike and Evan?" Henry asked quietly as he glanced around the room, fidgeting with his hands.

"Michael's in his room, reading, and Evan is taking a nap since he doesn't sleep."

He nodded his head, avoiding eye contact. He looked super nervous for some reason.

"Henry, what's going on?" William asked worriedly. He took a step closer to his friend. "You said that this is different this time. What happened?"

He hesitated, still looking away. "Doc's pregnant, b-but we're not sure that the baby's mine," he mumbled worriedly as he used the palm of his hand to wipe tears from his eyes. "A-And I fear that the baby will be her boyfriend's, n-not m-mine."

The bounced around William's head for a moment or two as he tried to make sense of what he just heard. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait," he said abruptly. "Doc's pregnant? For how long?"

"No idea. She just found out yesterday and told me this morning before she left for work." He covered his mouth to stifle a sob before he wrapped his arms around himself like it was the only thing keeping him together. "But it's too early to test if the kid is mine or not, and that's what scares me."

"I'm so sorry, Henry," William said sadly. He stepped closer and wrapped Henry in a tight, comforting hug. "I wish that this was something that you didn't have to worry about."

A quiet sob slipped out of Henry and he buried his face into William's shoulder. His tears soaked William's shirt. "I-It's fine," he reassured his friend. "It's not your fault. Thank you, though, for letting me come here and talk to you. You're the best."

William chuckled. "I'm just doing all that I can."

"Well, your 'all that I can' is amazing. So thank you. It means a lot."

~ ~ ~

About a month and a half later, William was walking down the hallway in Fazbear's to his office when he suddenly saw his office light on. Why was the light on? He'd been at Fredbear's all day, just as he usually did. Henry would manage everything at Fazbear's--paperwork, employee interviews, supervising employees bringing in tables and chairs--while William would manage everything at Fredbear's. But what was he doing in William's office?

With a slight chuckle, he walked into his office, surprised to see Henry trying to carry a stack of files as he put them away in William's file cabinet.

"Henry, stop," William said demandingly, his voice gentle. "You're pushing yourself too hard again. I know you want to help, but don't hurt yourself." He walked over to his friend and took the stack of files from Henry's hands. "I'm sorry that you've been having such a hard time with all of this. But please, stop trying to push yourself past your limits. It won't get you anywhere."

Henry's head drooped slightly as he sighed miserably. His arms fell to the side as William came up from behind him and gave him a gigantic hug. He leaned his head back on William's shoulder, soaking up the comfort from his friend.

"I want to do stuff," he admitted quietly. His voice cracked as he spoke. "I want to help out. I feel like I'm making you do everything. I've barely done anything productive since my hand was springlocked."

"It's fine. I don't mind," William assured him as he rested his head on Henry's. "And you are helping. A lot, actually. You've gotten so much paperwork done and you're great moral support. It's great knowing that we're not falling behind on the paperwork as we did with Fredbear's."

"I hate paperwork."

"Most people don't like it," he agreed, a slight chuckle in his voice. "How's your hand?"

"It's healing, but it's really slow. Too slow."

"Oh, come on, Henry. Where's your usual optimism?"

Henry sighed so long that it had to hurt. "Sorry, I don't mean to be so short and irritable," he mumbled. "It's just... difficult. You can still do everything while I didn't even have dinner last night or breakfast this morning because I can't do anything!" His voice cracked again and he took a deep breath. "It also doesn't help that my hand constantly hurts, no matter what I'm doing."

"Hen, you know that you could've asked for help if you needed food. You know that I would've helped you."

"I know. I have no excuse," he said quietly as he took hold of William's hand.

"It's all right. Now come on. Let's go to my place and get you some dinner, then we can come back and finish up."

~ ~ ~

A few hours later, William was putting the rest of the files and other random paperwork away in his filing cabinet when Henry suddenly burst into his office. He nearly shrieked and dropped all of the papers in his hands--Henry scared him that bad.

William put the paperwork on top of his filing cabinet and turned to get a better look at his friend. Henry was awkwardly standing in the doorway, blocking most of the light from the hallway. His hand was covering his mouth as tears fell from his eyes and dripped onto the floor. His shoulders bounced and shook slightly, but William couldn't tell if he was crying or laughing. Probably crying, considering the tears.

"Henry? Is something wrong?" William asked worriedly, taking a small step closer.

Henry laughed loudly as he tore a hand through his pale, ginger hair. "No. Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine. Perfectly fine. Good, great, amazing, awesome--whatever word you wanna use!"

A shiver ran down William's spine. Why was Henry acting so bloody creepy? It was unnerving. Something was definitely wrong.

"What's wrong, Henry?"

"Nothing. Everything's perfect!" Henry started to laugh happily. "The baby's mine! The baby's mine, Will! Can you believe it? This time next year, I'm going to have my own kid!" he exclaimed.

William gasped, grinning. "Oh mon Dieu, Henry, that's amazing! Congratulations!"

Henry rushed over to him and tackled him in a tight hug, weeping joyfully.